For anyone interested in the detail of German military organization to 1943, Dr. Leo Niehorster has decided to no longer publish new research, and has made the fruits of his research available as free .pdf downloads. They were previously expensive volumes to obtain in printed format. Most volumes concern the German Army, but there is also an excellent work on the Hungarian Army of 1920 to 1945. The files to download may be found at: [Read More]

Cheers,

BW

---------------With occasional, fatigued glances at life's rear-view mirror from the other side of time.

Your question is vague. "Germany" has only existed as that nation-state since 1870. Yet, militarism in Prussia was well established before 1870, and it is probably the influence of Prussian militarism to which you refer. I suspect that before the era of Frederick the Great, Prussian militarism was not such a strong influence in all of Europe, although the peoples east of Prussia had their hands full with the Teutonic Knights.

And militarism in West Germany has been on pause since 1945, and in East Germany, as part of modern reunified Germany, since 1989. As far as militancy goes, the Germans as people have always had their militant characters who, in their modern incarnations, manifested as authority figures. I would say, though, much of the average population is something more like passive-aggressive. They don't mind a pushy approach to other countries as long as a German authority figure is looking on approvingly. Without the support of authority, they are unlikely to be too aggressive solely as an act of personal initiative [unless they're driving a powerful car on the Autobahn ]

Cheers,

BW

---------------With occasional, fatigued glances at life's rear-view mirror from the other side of time.